Page 114 of What The Hex (The Family Spells)
Caine shrugged, turning his attention over to Hex; his grin turned into a smirk again.
“We say we don’t like bein’ wolf down here, but the instincts are there regardless. If you’da bent over, you might’ve had wolf nose up your crack. You can tell a lot about a person by the scent of their ass.”
“You’ve never sniffed mine,” Hex said, and then as if he’d realized what a bizarre thing that was to say, he added, “not that I’d want you to.”
“Oh, I’ve sniffed it,” Caine said, grabbing his own plate and cutting damn near half the pie off. He scooped it out of the glass pie pan and took a massive bite before continuing. “When I was in wolf form, just outside the sanctum.”
“Minutes after escaping a forced marriage and, mind you, saving werewolves I had no incentive to save other than common decency, you chose to stick your nose up my ass? When I was bent over in pain from the ivory?”
Caine shrugged yet again, and Hex rolled his eyes. He glanced over at the food and then, hesitantly, cut himself a slice of venison. Deer hunting season was year-round on pack property. Caine’s family owned enough acreage that they could feed the whole pack without causing any damage to the local wildlife population.
There was another pause in the conversation.
“What did my ass have to say then?” Hex asked finally, and Caine snorted.
“I smelled fear and uncertainty. You’re not very sure of yourself, are you Hex Sorciere?” Caine took another bite of food as Hex scowled at him. “But you’re not all bad either. I let you walk my babies, don’t I? I let you fuck my wife?” This part had Caine scowling again, but then he glanced over at me and our eyes met. He turned that scowl back into a smile. “Seems fair that I’d get to at least chat with Stella …”
“I have a fork in my hand, Caine Spells. I could stab you in the balls with it.”
“You could, but then how would we make another set o’ twins?” he continued to smile until Raeanne came over and sat down across from him. Her eyes flicked to Hex before turning back to her son.
“I’m happy that you’re here,” she told him with a genuine smile, folding her hands on the surface of the wooden table. Pack legend said that it’d been carved from a single tree. I didn’t know if that was true or not, but it was an impressive story. “And it seems that congratulations are in order?”
I didn’t know if she’d simply scented that I was pregnant, or if someone had told her. Either way, I smiled back.
“Thank you.” I didn’t bother to say that Hex was the father. There was no point. She didn’t need to know anyway.
“But I also know that you didn’t come down here just to play holiday with your pack,” she continued, and then frowned as several gunshots went off in the woods, echoing sharply and making Hex cringe. Pack Citrine Sunrise liked to hunt with guns and crossbows instead of teeth and fangs. They also enjoyed target practice at whatever hour. Didn’t matter considering the size of the property. Anyway, the sound was clearly way-off, so I wasn’t worried about the kids. “What do you need from me?”
“Who says I need somethin’?” Caine asked, but his mother just stared at him like she didn’t believe him. He sighed and set his fork down, putting both elbows on the table and hooking his fingers together. “I need a family heirloom. Don’t ask what for. You wouldn’t want to know anyway.”
“Does it have something to do with the Grand Prince?” Raeanne countered, and I raised both brows. I hadn’t expected her to pick up on that. I’d just assumed the pack was too far removed from the other Numinous to be aware of what was going on. “I have my beliefs, Caine, and you have yours. It doesn’t mean I’m not up-to-date on current events nor does it mean that I love you any less.”
I felt suddenly like I should leave, but Caine’s hand found my thigh and squeezed. Hex, on the other hand, snatched his plate and stood up, moving over to a nearby firepit to finish his food.
“The Grand Prince …” Caine trailed off and licked his lips, exchanging a look with me. Whatever he wanted to tell his family was fine. A little, a lot. It was his decision. “You could say that.”
“Have you gotten yourself into trouble?” she continued, looking at me next. I think Raeanne sometimes felt resentment toward me, as if I’d taken Caine away from her. In reality, he’d made the decision to leave long before I’d come into the picture. I was simply the catalyst that’d driven him to take that final step.
